Eating our way through Schwarzwald

AKA Germany is delicious! Schwarzwald took good care of us this week! It was rather last-minute planning, since the Dutch and Belgian coasts were appealing too. The prospect of great German food and Twin Peaks scenery is what got me out of my coastal break comfort zone.

Schwarzwald is touristy, so be warned. It’s kind of like Florida, where retirement-age folk congregate. When the mean age of the tourists we met were mid-60s to early 70s, we pretty much lowered the average!

Saying that, we were blessed with beautiful warm days on our trip, with bright cloudless skies. We overdosed on Käsespätzle, Rösti, Maultaschen, fresh pine-scented countryside air, the rolling hills and the Alpine huts dotting the landscape. We were too last-minute to score Kräuterwanderung (foraging walking tours) and foodie days at Baiersbronn, but I’m good for saving those for future trips.

Trigger warning for ridiculous food photos!

First up, a brief visit to Stuggi…

We met up with Andreas and his son, Mini Andreas, for Sunday breakfast. We ate at Tarte und Törtchen which met my requirements of eggs and bacon and satisfied our sweet tooth. No, really, check out their website: they specialise in cakes and it took all of my willpower not to order every cake they had on display.

Three-tiered breakfast!

Homemade croissants, brioche and Laugenbrotchen.

OK, it took all my willpower not to order all the cakes on display.

Freshly squeezed!

Andreas got us sugar rush in a box! Macarons FTW!

Tall and beardy.

Next up, Sunday dinner with Dominik.

We zipped down from Stuttgart in time to check into our hotel and then meet Dominik for Sunday dinner. I hadn’t seen him in a long while! Typically, I pick the place where we eat when we meet up (Düsseldorf, Berlin, Asian cuisine). His turn this time and we went German.

We forgot to do selfies so here is my favourite pic of Dominik.

Rinderbrühe mith Flädle, which is a traditional soup of beef broth and slices of (herb-y) eggy pancake.

It’s always a good time for schnitzel.

Char on risotto.

Dominik’s steak and frites.

Home of Tannenzäpfle.

I totally remember my first Tannenzäpfle, at Schwarzwaldstuben in Linienstrasse x Tucholskystrasse in Berlin Mitte. It’s probably the one beer I drink the most, aside from Hoegaarden witbier. They’re based in southern Schwarzwald, where we ended up one lunchtime after a scenic drive.

The building that houses the factory and museum itself is actually more pink than red.

The racer boy scenic drive thing.

I’m not great at these drives because I get extremely carsick. One of these days I’m going to send the handsome-and-talented one to Stelvio Pass with Miss Weeza in a fast German car so they can fulfill their racer boy, racer girl dreams of zipping up and down hairpin bends. I’ll fly down to Milano and meet them there.

Schwarzwald traffic jam.

Blessed with sunny days!

I swear this camper was stalking us because we kept seeing the same one in different towns we drove to throughout the day. #HorrorStorySetting

We wondered if there was correllation between the age of the house dweller and the amount of of flowers they have on the balconies.

The magnificent dome of Sankt Blasien.

Fish scale cladding pattern on houses, we saw these all over Schwarzwald.

Then I picked up a pinecone while out walking and realised that d’oh, we’re in the mountains, not the seaside. Pinecone cladding!

Lots of quaint Altstadt scenery.

Colourful Altstadt.

Word.

More pretty Altstadt.

Kitsch factor 10.

More cuckoo-clock kitsch.

Abandoned? I wanted to break into all the abandoned-looking places, to see what’s inside.

Late summer squirrel mode: stocking up on firewood.

The handsome-and-talented one exchanged his wingtips for Nikes for countryside walking.

Looking for Twin Peaks scenery.

Rolling hills. Pretty but makes me carsick.

No one under 50 drives under 50 on these roads.

Franz Keller.

Andreas tipped us towards Franz Keller. While they were all booked out for the dates that we were in Schwarzwald, we did make it for dinner one evening after a leisurely scenic drive. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner experience and would love to have the full Franz Keller experience in the future.

Overlooking the vineyards.

I loved the radish dip.

Tartar of river trout with sautéed chantarelles.

Mozzarella di bufala.

His steak: medium.

Mine! So tender, so juicy, so good.

My rare, 6-week dry-aged, very flavourful steak. Big love!

If the chocolate “foam” had been made of dark chocolate, this would’ve been a wonderful dessert. It was good, and pretty, and satisfied my sweet tooth.

An afternoon trip to Alsace.

Andreas told us about a small fromagerie just over the border in France that was definitely worth a visit. After this visit, his foodie points just goes up and up. Srsly.

He’s constantly photographing for his work these days.

Blue blue sky. #NoFilter.

We followed signs for Château de Ferrette which turned out to be a goat trail.

We huffed and puffed our way to the top…

I would’ve curled up with my book and read all afternoon in the sun with this view in the background.

Fromagerie Antony in Vieux Ferrette.

Fromagerie Antony supplies cheese to many Michelin-starred restaurants all over the world. It was a 45-minute drive so we drove over one afternoon for one of their cheese tastings. Happiness is eating a beautiful cheese plate, paired with a chilled Gewürztraminer. I think we got a little high from the cheese because we didn’t stop smiling all day after that experience. The Gruyere and Livarot were Robert’s favourites, mine were the Citeaux and Coulommiers.

Our selection of nine cheeses.

Starting at 6, going clockwise.

Ended up getting a few bottles of this Gewürztraminer to bring back with us.

Happy serendipity: Brasserie Radwulf.

We were driving along the main village road when I noticed a sign for “micro brewery/craft beer”. The handsome-and-talented husband couldn’t make a U-turn fast enough. We followed the road and the signs, until we finally reached this out-of-the-way, edge of town warehouse. Naturally, I was sent out to investigate while he waited in the car. Typical.

I felt giddy just walking up to this awesome door, anticipating the wonderful beers that awaited me.

Radwulf’s current beers.

Inside: a micro brewery behind the bar.

He’s making pumpkin ale!

A delicious blond.

We ended up bringing loads back to Berlin.

I can’t wait to return, he’s brewing beautiful beer in wine country.

Altes Spital for lazing around doing nothing.

We spent time just lazing around where we were staying, the Altes Spital Hotel, catching up on reading, Coursera lectures, Netflix series. It had a terrace where we could enjoy a beer with our reading and soak up some sun, and the restaurant was decent.

Breakfast cold cuts!

Because a good day starts with a leisurely breakfast.

Late night wine.

Late night snack of wine and cheese platter.

Tower of beer.

Flammkuchen with bacon strips and onions.

Big salad that came with our dinner.

His Käsespätzle mit Bergkäse und Rostzwiebeln.

Mine: Rösti with Black Forest salmon trout and horseradish cream.

Was there anything I didn’t like? Yes! Wurstsalat!

Both Andreas and Carsten had mentionedpositively raved about Wurstsalat and Fleischsalat. While I didn’t like the sound of it, I ordered it anyway for lunch one day. I thought I needed to step out of my comfort zone. Yeah, nope. No, no, no. No Fleischsalat or Wurstsalat for me. This dish joins Leberkäse and marzipan on the list of food I dislike.

Fleischsalat and Wurstsalat must be southern German things that I don’t understand. Like the separate duvets on double beds. I don’t get it. It’s one bed, two duvets. Why? Why would you share a bed with someone you don’t want to share a duvet with?

Andreas tells me to quit overanalysing and get over it.

Last lunch in Schwarzwald.

Better make it count! So we went to the Blockhütte in Tonbach. We were super lucky with the weather, hot enough for us to strip to summer clothes and we even got tan lines on our arms afterwards. The scenery, the food, the fresh air, the sun, the handsome-and-talented husband, ah, the perfect lunch.

It’s like traveling with my own paparazzi.

Boozy lunch with a view. I did trip and fall flat on my face on my way down.

Friday beers with Carsten!

Ah, Carsten. What can I say? After interviewing him for Man in the Kitchen, somehow we didn’t stop talking. Fast forward some months later, he invited us for drinks at his home on our way back to Berlin. Sweet way to end the trip!

I liked this beer a lot! Reminiscent of Mikkeller’s passionfruit beer, very fruity, very light.

Carsten’s “Woman, stop pointing your camera at me” look. With the spoon in his hand, I was expecting an Alan Rickman/Sheriff of Nottingham threat, too.